Im namen der independents.

Watch it here. I was smiling ear to ear just like Regal.

As detailed on this site a few times already, it’ll be Full PWChronicle McGillicutty in New York City, as myself, Steve, Bossman Johnny P., the UNR crew, and other colleagues plan to meet up and attend ROH’s “Best in the World 2011″ event in the Hammerstein Ballroom. I likely would have just ordered this show from home as usual (and it should be a really good show with the top three matches alone), but the domino effect of a bunch of us meeting up for this took off like a rocket. I’m pumped to meet up with these guys for the first time in a long time (or first time period) alone, and see my first Hammerstein show after seeing ROH the Grand Ballroom twice. Hoping we can at least get decent seats.

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To help build up their big show on Sunday, not to mention their new TV show, ROH and Sinclair Broadcasting held a press conference in Baltimore this afternoon, which can now be viewed HERE. We learned that the new broadcast television show will premiere on Saturday, September 24th, and we were introduced to the new company logo (more akin to their original logo from 2002, but also more bush-league than what they should have). The main eventers had words for each other, the Briscoes and Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team had a pull-apart brawl, several undercard talents were paraded out to golf claps, Delirious was a shadow in the background, and Mike Johnson (…Michael) was in attendance. All in all, you win some and you lose some.

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I just learned today that Amasis of the Osirian Portal has retired from wrestling, due to severe injuries he suffered in an accident back in May. I’m very sad to hear this, as he was very talented and fun to watch very early in his career. I remember seeing his debut in Chikara back in September of 2007; he and Ophidian won over the fans pretty damn well back then, and they grew into one of the funnest, most popular teams on the scene. The Funky Pharaoh’s career may be over, but the Funk will never die.

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Announced today, everyone’s favorite madman-that-relocated-to-South Jersey Sami Callihan adds another big match to his young career when he takes on Dave “Fit” Finlay at EVOLVE 9 on July 26th. My mind was blown that Gabe Sapolsky and company secured Finlay (currently out of WWE, at least for the time being), let alone that they matched him up against the New Horror. Wonder if fellow Callihan booster and World of Sport fan Johnny P. has heard this yet.

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Last weekend, at the Wizard World Comic Con in the Pennsylvania Convention Center, this really happened:

Yes, that’s me. My mission to make some friends jealous is succeeding. She was quite lovely in person, but I did not expect her to wear something like that. This was also the only overpriced celebrity photo I took at the Con, though I was also in the presence of the great Bruce Campbell a few hours later.

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Earlier this week, over Twitter, this really happened:

pwchronicle PW Chronicle
Thanks for Shattering my illusions about wrestling!! RT @TNA_GUNNER Wrestling is a whole new world than it used to be!!

TNA_GUNNER Gunner
I call it Gunnering ur illusions..ur welcome WOOOOO.RT @pwchronicle: Thanks for Shattering my illusions about (cont) http://tl.gd/b9mpsb

Granted, from looking at his page, Gunner appears to be very tweet-friendly with all those that mention him, which is awesome. Still, to think that this may very well be the first wrestler to retweet one of Steve’s musings is hilarious.

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No wonder he gave up the Cattle Mutilation.

The weekend started on a somber note as Chikara paid their respects to Larry Sweeney. Fans were allowed to write their messages on a poster board as they came in each night. Many of the wrestlers wore pink and purple cloth straps on their person. To open the first night, a pair of sunglasses was placed in the center of the ring as nearly the entire roster, plus invited guests like Cary Silken and Hydra, surrounded the ring for a 10-bell salute and a moment of silence. Many of them, including Mike Quackenbush, Eddie Kingston, and Jigsaw, were visibly upset. A tribute video was played, followed by the crowd and talent erupting applause and chants for the Sweet & Sour one. A truly touching moment, and the love didn’t stop. In their First Round victory alongside Manami Toyota, Quack used Sweeney’s ’68 Comeback Special (a neckbreaker/DDT combo) on one of the Maximos, and Jigsaw finished him off with a 12-Large Elbow Drop. Kingston, in his first match of the weekend on Night 2 against Arik Cannon, wore a Sweeney shirt to the ring. Following his victory (a nearly 8-minute war of strikes and suplexes), he embraced Cannon and the two of them held up the shirt to the camera. Jigsaw also pulled out Sweeney’s DiBiase-esque fist drop in a singles match on Night 3.

The Colony advanced over Sinn Bodhi & The Batiri in the First Round, overcoming interference from Kobald (the goblin guy Sinn introduced in December) and the heel tendencies and incompetence of ref Derek Sabato. In the Quarter-Finals, they scored a big victory of the BDK team. In the First Round, the BDK overcame Da Soul Touchaz when Tursas interfered with a cross body and allowed Jakob Hammermeier (portrayed as a weakling and punching bag in his matches) to get the pin. They went for the same plan here on Green Ant, but he managed to duck and Jakob ate the crossbody. Then, continuing into his ode to Lex Luger (which began when returned from injury with a metal plate in his arm), he slammed Tursas to a massive pop and put Jakob in the Torture Rack for the quick submission. The slam spot was something carried over from the Tursas Body Slam Challenge. This wouldn’t be the only tribute to mid-90s WWF over the weekend.

In the Semi-Finals on Night 3, they met The Osirian Portal, another team thought to be favorites to win it all. They had advanced successfully over ¡3.Ole! and Team Dragon Gate. This opener for Night 3 saw a good, competitive match between two babyface teams that have met before, ending with a top rope neckbreaker by Soldier Ant. In the Finals, they met up old rivals F.I.S.T., who vanquished Team Australia in the First Round (they kept things basic, weren’t all that impressive, but still received a nice reception for making the trip) and avenged their loss last year to Team Osaka Pro in the Quarter Finals when Taylor rolled up Ultimate Spider Jr. with a handful of tights. In the Semi-Finals, F.I.S.T. were matched up with Team Michinoku Pro, who had been on fire all weekend. Limitations or no, Sasuke, Togo, and Shinzaki are still great friggin’ wrestlers and had excellent matches with Team Minnesota and Team Toyota. Togo is the one about to retire, yet he was probably moving the best out of all of them. Shinzaki looked really good and walked the ropes, and Sasuke was game for everything, including wrestling Darin Corbin in slow motion… twice! People were really rooting for them, but F.I.S.T. derailed them with a handful of powder to Sasuke’s eyes and a small package. It gave monster heat to F.I.S.T. and built some good tension going into the Finals, providing more drama than a face team vs. face team match would have provided. F.I.S.T., and especially Icarus, earned great scorn all weekend; fans rooted for Team Australia against them with chants of “Let’s Go Not F.I.S.T.” and Icarus was to every chant from “Worst in the World,” to “Please Retire,” to a chant to tap to a headlock.

So with the Finals set between F.I.S.T. and the Colony, they pulled out all of the stops. Green Ant fought back from weakened arm and a ripped antenna. A Chikara Special submission by Soldier Ant on Chuck Taylor was thwarted when Icarus pulled the ref out of the ring. They teased an Awful Waffle through the ringside table, a la the Hair vs. Masks Match from 2009. Fire Ant survived the Awful Waffle, Green Ant survived the Pedigree, and a reintroduction of the powder backfired on the heels. The Colony finally won when they pulled out the Super Ant Hill from last year’s tournament and finished off Icarus with it. A great ending to the weekend that made sense after last year’s screw job.

In addition to Team Michinoku Pro kicking ass, Sean Waltman made a believer out of people again. In addition to donning the role of the 1-2-3 Kid once more (old-fashioned gear, clean-shaven face, but no mullet), he also basically took on the role of Randy the Ram (except at the end, his heart didn’t explode). I was very worried in the beginning when he took forever to make his entrance on Night 1, but things were pretty much smooth sailing from there. He was overtaken with emotion by the crowd’s chants for them and didn’t let them down. Just as he stared down Shinzaki, fans broke out a chant of “1995,” which made Waltman laugh. That tournament match, which main evented Night 1, was indeed very good, and included Waltman hitting a crazy suicide flip to the floor. On Night 2, he had another good match as part of Rey de Voladores, outlasting Amazing Red, Obariyon, and Frightmare in a four-way elimination match, ending when he beat Frightmare with a Super X-Factor. In the Rey de Voladores Finals on Night 3, he pulled out all of the stops against El Generico (who got chants of “Uno, Dos, Tres” to counter the “1-2-3″ chants). This one had some rough patches (a turnbuckle brainbuster into a cradle attempt that had a clunky execution, and a Yakuza Kick in the Corner for which Waltman didn’t get all the way up), but otherwise it was quite awesome. Lots of nearfalls, including from another Super X-Factor and a regular brainbuster. In my favorite moment of the match, Generico even broke out the Razor’s Edge on Waltman. When he went for the pin, Waltman countered with a crucifix for another nearfall. Generico finally won with the successful turnbuckle brainbuster, earning him the Rey de Voladores plaque and his biggest win in Chikara. Waltman took the time to cut promos after all of his matches, putting over the fans for their support and his opponents. After this match, he said how much he was touched by the crowd response and how Philadelphia is a hotbed for the best wrestling. He also said this might retire this year, and that if this was his last match, he couldn’t think of a better opponent to have it with than Generico.

Generico, by the way, won his four-way elimination match over Pinkie Sanchez, Marshe Rockett (who dished out some Roderick Strong-level chops) and the impressive Englishman Zack Sabre Jr. (my first time seeing him live and second time overall). Sabato was the ref and was helping Pinkie throughout the match, eliminating Rockett and Sabre, but it was after Sabato helped Pinkie thwart an attempted turnbuckle brainbuster that Director of Fun Wink Vavasseur came out. He’s proven to be pretty aloof about what’s going on in Chikara, but the heavy influence over Sabato, against Sabato’s will, is very interesting. At this point, he made him exchange his white BDK ref shirt for a regular blue ref shirt. Pinkie’s confusion and frustration over this led to his demise, and Generico made some great faces toward Sabato as he counted the fall and raised his hand.

The teams from Dragon Gate and Osaka Pro really impressed all weekend. Akira Tozawa continues to his crusade of awesomeness, and his partners Super Shisa and Kagetora looked good too in their matches with the Spectral Envoy and the Portal. Fans around me thought that them defeating the Envoy was an upset, to which I say, “Really? It’s Dragon Gate.” UltraMantis Black, by the way, probably received the biggest ovation out of all of the Chikara regulars in his lone in-ring appearance. Tozawa also had an awesome match on Night 3 (the first in a trifecta that night) against Eddie Kingston. Kingston won it with a backfist and backdrop driver to win it, then showed respect to Tozawa. On the Osaka Pro side, Ultimate Spider Jr. had a good debut weekend with his spider antics (including some invisible webs used for offense), closing on Night 3 with a singles loss to Jigsaw. Atsushi Kotoge and Daisuke Harada also continued to win over fans. After their victory in the First Round over the Throwbacks (which had even better comedy than ¡3.Ole! vs. Portal, from an in-ring race between Kotoge and Sugar Dunkerton, to a penalty shot, to Dunkerton getting bullied by Matt Classic), fans chanted for them to please come back, then chanted for them to simply stay. Similar response after their loss to F.I.S.T. Then Kotoge and Harada entered the 10-Team Tag Gauntlet, earning three points with victories over the Rougnecks, 3.0, and Kagetora & Shisa. So it’s a matter of time before they come back to challenge for the Campeones de Parejas (or QuackSaw could head to Osaka Pro).

Also involved in the Gauntlet were Acid Jaz and Willie Richardson of Da Soul Touchaz, Cannon & Corbin, the Batiri, the Throwbacks (who advanced over the Batiri via DQ), Sara Del Rey & Daizee Haze, and a team that must return: Matt Classic & Darkness Crabtree. Their bickering was hilarious, and the crowd stayed quiet for it. Classic didn’t think Death Haze were his opponents at first, giving them his jacket and towel as he prepared for his “real” opponents. Classic (a powerhouse on Nights 1 and 3 who left each of his matches in a huff when he lost) chastised the “dames,” and Crabtree came at them in lecherous fashion.

Classic’s apparent young boy and NWA World Champion, Colt Cabana, was selling merchandise all weekend (I bought The Wrestling Road Diaries from him), and he made a surprise in-ring appearance to open Night 2, answering the open challenge of Chikara newcomer Archibald Peck. Peck, who doubles as RD Evans, barrister for the Embassy in ROH, is an over-the-top marching band cadet with a wiry frame and a big hat. He is accompanied by a majorette named Veronica, played by a woman who went from being a long-time fan to a Chikara crew member/presumed student for the past few years. Together they are known as The Band, which I thought was asking for some Waltman crossover. I wasn’t sure about this act in their first appearance last month, where Peck lost his debut match to Kingston, but here I thought they were gold. Peck issued his challenge for a duel with Cabana with a glove slap, and Cabana answered it with a boot slap. A very funny opener for the second night, ending with a distraction by Veronica, a shot to the head with a baton, and a diving headbutt to give Peck the victory.

Amazing Red, who only competed on the first two nights before heading to Lockdown, looked good as usual, while the Maximos, despite huffing wind, pulled out some cool stuff and received a surprisingly strong ovation from the crowd following their First Round loss to Team Toyota. Their match was the shortest of Night 1 at around 10 minutes, but was some good fun. Toyota herself worked sparingly in the First Round, but still brought the goods. She got more involved on Night 2 against Team Michinoku Pro, from giving Sasuke the rolling cradle to getting beat to hell by Togo. On Night 3, she defeated Madison Eagles in a singles match, hitting the Ocean Cyclone Suplex for a nearfall before finishing her off with a brutal driver move.

Overall, this was an amazing weekend and my favorite King of Trios since 2009. It truly felt like an indy WrestleMania, and it felt like nearly everyone brought their A-game for the sake of weekend, and I’m sure many of them in honor of Sweeney. I had an awesome time and won’t forget seeing such legends and such great talent in person. The DVDs at Smart Mark Video have got to be must-buys, with Night 2 perhaps being one of the best shows of the year when all is said and done. If you’ve seen these shows in person or at home, please share your thoughts in the comments below.

I also took a lot of photos throughout the weekend (as did many other people), which can be found HERE!

Chikara returns to action with their debut in Burlington, NC on May 14th, followed by Easton, PA on May 21st and Union City, NJ on May 22nd (two of many indy shows in the span of that week). Those will be their Aniversario shows, closing their eighth year and beginning their ninth, as well as the beginning (and perhaps ending) of a 12-man tournament to crown Chikara’s first singles champion.

watch?v=DU4TDGlbTz8

I saw it yesterday, but then I heard today that it’s blowing up. Not quite to the level of the homeless man with the golden voice, but huge. Break.com, CollegeHumor.com, tweeted by Bill Simmons and “Lost” co-creator Damon Lindelof, and today’s #1 Around The Net video on tonight’s “Attack of the Show.”

Hopefully this can be spun into gold by the parties involved: CZW (like’em or hate’em, it was their show), Gacy & Slater (Holy Face Slide!), and especially the Portal and Chikara, for showing that wrestling can be just plain fun.